Archive for Naguib Sawiris

Egypt’s 6 Richest Men in 2013

by admin
March 11th, 2013

In the Forbes-list of the world’s richest people, Egypt was represented 6 times, mainly by Sawiris and Mansour family-members.

Forbes published a list of the world’s billionaire rankings – in which Egyptian business-men conquered six places. Carlos Slim Helu, who has a fortune worth $73 billion, was named richest billionaire in the world.
Check out which Egyptians made it:
#1 Nassef Sawiris:

Nassef Sawiris

Photo by Forbes

With a net worth of $6.5 billion (in 2011 it was $4.75 billion), Nassef Sawiris runs Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt’s most valuable publicly-traded company, which was founded by father Onsi. The construction and fertilizer company’s shares fell almost one-third during the protests leading up to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in February 2011. They later rallied to pre-revolution levels, but recently slipped again, due to the travel ban that was placed on Sawiris and his father. Sawiris is the 4th richest man in Africa and also owns big stakes in cement giant Lafarge, and Texas Industries.
#2 Naguib Sawiris:

Naguib Sawiris

Photo by Forbes

With a net worth of $2.5 billion (in 2011 it was $2.9 billion), Naguib Sawiris, the eldest son of Egyptian billionaire Onsi Sawiris, built Orascom Telecom, then sold the family’s stake to Russian and emerging market telecom giant VimpelCom in April for $6.5 billion in shares and cash, becoming one of VimpelCom’s largest shareholders in the process. Sawiris is Africa’s 9th richest man and also delved into Egyptian politics, forming the Free Egyptians party in April 2011 to promote free markets and a secular platform.

#3 Mohamed Mansour:

Mohamed Mansour

Photo by Forbes

Africa’s 10th richest man Mohamed Mansour (net worth $2.2 billion in 2013 – $1.7 billion in 2011) and his brothers are the biggest sellers of GM vehicles in the world. Strong sales in their Caterpillar business throughout Africa, Russia and Iraq are making up for a slump in Egypt. Other interests include the largest supermarket chain in Egypt (Metro), and the Philip Morris franchise. According to Ahram Online, Metro received an offer from Majid AlFuttaim Group for up to $300 million.

#4 Onsi Sawiris:

Onsi Sawiris

Photo by Forbes

With a net worth of 2 billion ($2.6 billion in 2011), Onsi Sawiris is the patriarch of Egypt’s wealthiest family and shares the fourth and fifth rank with Yasseen Mansour in this list. The Egyptian government nationalized his first construction business in 1971. Undeterred, he rebuilt what became Orascom Construction Industries. His son Nassef took over in 1995. Another son, Naguib, built a separate telecom company, while son Samih went into hotels and real estate. Onsi Sawiris now owns shares in Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, following its acquisition of the family stake in Orascom Telecom in April 2011. All three Sawiris sons appear on the Forbes Richest Africans list; Nassef and Naguib are billionaires.

#4 Yasseen Mansour:

Yasseen Mansour

Photo by Forbes

With a net worth of $2 billion ($1.55 billion in 2011), Yasseen Mansour, the youngest of Egypt’s three Mansour brothers, was put on the Interpol list on fraud charges in 2011, but was removed after being cleared of corruption charges over the misappropriation of state land for Palm Hills Developments. Yasseen, his brothers and cousin, the former housing minister who was also accused, but cleared on Palm Hills, are the largest shareholders in the company—Egypt’s second-biggest real estate developer. Yasseen resigned as CEO in June, but remains chairman. The majority of his fortune is tied up in the family business; it is the largest seller of GM vehicles in the world.

#6 Youssef Mansour:

Youssef Mansour

Photo by Forbes

With a net worth of $1.95 billion ($1.55 billion in 2011), Youssef Mansour, the older brother of Egyptian billionaire businessmen Mohamed and Yasseen, keeps a low profile. His assets, especially in publicly traded real estate development company Palm Hills Developments, took a hit with the Egyptian uprising early in 2011. Youssef is responsible for building Egypt’s largest supermarket chain, Metro, but now devotes time to the family foundation which targets illiteracy and education. The bulk of his fortune comes from the family’s business as the largest seller of GM vehicles in the world, and strong sales of Caterpillar machines.

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Telecom Italia: Sawiris offer must reach 1.5 euro to be attractive

by admin
November 27th, 2012

(Reuters) – Telecom Italia shareholder Marco Fossati said on Monday that any offer for the company from Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris must be worth around 1.5 euros per share to be attractive.
 
The debt-laden group has attracted attention from Sawiris, who could invest billions of euros by buying new shares in the company. The possible investment will be discussed at a Telecom

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Sawiris-led Weather launches $5 bln claim against Algeria

by admin
November 21st, 2012

(Reuters) – Weather Investments, chaired by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, has launched a $5 billion claim against Algeria for damage to its interest in local unit Djezzy.
Sawiris said on Monday that Algeria had “since 2008 pursued a campaign of interference and harassment which has cost Weather Investments over $5 billion in damages”. He cited the attempted forced sale of all or part

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Sawiris interest in Italian operator nudges Egypt bourse upwards

by admin
November 15th, 2012

(Others) – The Egyptian bourse registered gains for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, pushed up by news of Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris’ offer to buy a 30 per cent stake in Italy’s largest telecoms operator.
The benchmark EGX30 index rose by 0.81 per cent to reach 5,684 points. Daily turnover increased slightly to LE351.8 million, although this remains far from the LE1 billion seen i

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Telecom Italia says Egyptian tycoon seeking stake

by admin
November 12th, 2012

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has made an offer to invest in Telecom Italia, which has been hit hard by the eurozone debt crisis, the debt-laden Italian company said Monday.

The company said it had recently received communication from Sawiris about his interest in investing in the company’s share capital by underwriting new stock issuing.

The company’s shares were up more than 7.0 percent on the Milan Stock Exchange following the announcement.

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Court orders detention of Coptic man accused of defaming Islam

by admin
August 1st, 2012

A court in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag on Wednesday has renewed for 15 days the detention of a Coptic man accused of defaming Islam and insulting the Prophet Mohamed.

Bishoy Kamil Gergis was arrested following a complaint in which he was accused of posting opinions in Facebook that insult Islam and the prophet, state-run news agency MENA reported.

On Wednesday, the court began hearing the case amid a large Islamist presence, MENA added.

Mohamed Safwat, who filed the complaint against Gergis, told investigators last month that Gergis had sent him more than 50 photos of animals such as pigs and dogs captioned with the phrase, “Mohamed the prophet of Muslims.”

Insulting Islam and the prophet is considered a crime in Egypt under Article 98(f) of the Penal Code.

The article states: “Confinement for a period of not less than six months and not exceeding five years… shall be the penalty inflicted on whoever makes use of religion in propagating, either by words, in writing, or in any other means, extreme ideas for the purpose of inciting strife, ridiculing or insulting a heavenly religion or a sect following it, or damaging national unity.”

Human rights activists say that this article poses a threat to freedom of expression, adding that it has been used to suppress dissident voices.

Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, a founder of the liberal Free Egyptians party, faced charges of defaming Islam after he posted pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing Islamic clothing on Twitter.

Renowned comedic actor Adel Imam was also brought to court on charges of “contempt of religion,” and he was convicted in February to three months in jail.

Last May, the Assiut Court of Appeals upheld a three year sentence against a 16-year-old Christian student for posting a drawing on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohamed.
 

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Sawiris: Dealings with Palestinian officials ended years ago

by admin
July 31st, 2012

Egyptian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris has denied any financial dealings with Mohamed Rashid, adviser to the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Sawiris claimed he had never dealt with Rashid in any personal capacity, but only in his role as the director of the Palestinian Investment Fund, which made five times more profits by entering into dealings with the Egyptian businessman’s company, Orascom.

“All this stopped years ago,” Sawiris said.

He also denied having any financial dealings with  Mohamed Dahlan, a former leading figure of Fatah. “There was nothing between us but friendship and mutual respect,” he said.

Press reports had said the Palestinian attorney general asked Sawiris to end all dealings with Rashid and Dahlan, as per order from the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Court.

However, Mohamed Omran, president of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, denied receiving requests from internal or external sources to freeze shares or stakes in companies owned by former Palestinian officials.

Omran told the state-run MENA news agency on Monday that the decision to freeze stocks and shares come from the public prosecutor, the Illicit Gains Authority, the Financial Supervisory Authority or the presidency.

“This happened with members of the former Libyan regime following a decision made by the United Nations,” he said.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Coptic leaders refuse to meet with Clinton

by admin
July 15th, 2012

Coptic leaders have declined to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that she is recognizing sectarian divisions by meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis before requesting to meet with Copts.

Individuals who refused to meet with Clinton included business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, political activist Michael Mounir, former MP Georgette Qilliny and former MP Emad Gad.

A group statement issued Sunday said that since the 25 January revolution, Clinton and other US officials on visits to Egypt have held meetings with the forces of political Islam to the exclusion of other political groups. The statement claimed that the US administration has demonstrated their support for Islamism over other political and civil forces.

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Naguib Sawiris to drop EFG buyout: source

by admin
June 5th, 2012

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris will drop out of a buy-out consortium targeting investment bank EFG Hermes after EFG shareholders backed an alternative tie-up with Qatar's QInvest, an EFG source told Reuters on Tuesday.

But the head of the buy-out group vowed to press on with the bid, saying it had the financial firepower it needs and would consider a hostile approach for Egypt's biggest investment bank.

Economic turmoil and a morose financial market since a popular uprising have left EFG lacking the means for its ambition to expand across the Middle East and in March it announced talks over an alliance with Qatar's QInvest.

But last week a group of Egyptian and Gulf Arab investors announced a rival bid for EFG.

The consortium, Planet IB, said on Friday it was prepared to pay a minimum of LE13.50 per share for the Cairo-based bank, which would value it at US$1.1 billion at least.

Then on Saturday EFG shareholders voted to go ahead with the QInvest tie-up, which would give the Qatari firm 60 percent of EFG's main investment banking operation.

Planet named telecoms entrepreneur Sawiris, one of Egypt's richest men, as a financial backer.

But the EFG source, who asked not to be named, said Sawiris had now dropped out of the consortium because a condition for his taking part was that EFG shareholders would vote against the QInvest venture.

The source said EFG received a phone call from Sawiris saying "he would have participated in the Planet offer to buy EFG Hermes on condition that the EFG Hermes extraordinary general assembly vote against the strategic coalition with QInvest, and that did not happen."

Sawiris declined to comment to Reuters.

EFG shares were down 2.9 percent at LE10.56 on Tuesday.

EFG said on Monday it was taking legal measures to protect the company and its shareholders from Planet's takeover attempt.

EFG stock plunged after Egypt's popular uprising last year and the bank came under further pressure last week when its two chief executives were referred to trial alongside former president Hosni Mubarak's two sons as part of a probe into illegal share dealings.

The bank said the allegations levelled at its executives were false and it vowed to defend them.

Hostile Planet?

Planet Chief Executive Ahmed El Houssieny said his group would take their bid hostile if necessary, but not before due diligence proceedings that would allow them closer scrutiny of EFG's accounts.

"We are investigating with the regulator the possibility of launching a public tender offer subject to due diligence," the CEO told Reuters.

EFG management has questioned the credibility of the Planet approach and its ability to finance a buy-out. EFG has a market capitalisation of around US$870 million, less than half of its value before the uprising.

Houssieny said Planet had secured US$650 million of credit financing by signing an arrangement mandate that could be presented to Egypt's financial regulator EFSA.

He said LE13.50 per share was the minimum offer that Planet would make but it was "entirely contingent upon EFG Hermes opening its books to due diligence by Planet IB."

"It is impossible to consider undertaking a transaction of this size without the opportunity to do legal, financial and commercial due diligence on the same terms as were afforded our competitor," he said.

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Sawiris backs bid for EFG Hermes

by admin
June 1st, 2012

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is helping finance a takeover bid for Egypt's biggest investment bank EFG Hermes that would ensure the company is not broken up, the bid consortium said on Friday.

Plant IB, the group of Gulf investors and bankers behind the bid move, is led by financial industry interests including Chief Executive Ahmad al-Husseiny, who until last month was managing director of Egypt-based private equity firm Citadel Capital.

The move comes as EFG, whose market value has more than halved to less than US$870 million since the national uprising that ousted President Hosni Mabarak last year, is in the process of forming a joint venture with Qatar's QInvest that would give the Qatari firm control over its main business.

Husseiny said Planet had lined up debt finance for its cash bid and "substantial equity commitments from leading Egyptian business figures" including Sawiris, Gulf-based investors such as Tareq bin Faisal al-Qassimi and a top Bahraini institution.

"The proposed acquisition keeps a flagship Egyptian multi-national intact and prevents its break-up," said Hussieny in a statement. He said EFG would operate as a fully-controlled universal bank.

Sawiris, one of Egypt's richest men, built a global telecoms empire by venturing into frontier markets with strong growth potential.

Now 57, he has eased off day-to-day management of his empire after selling assets including Italian operator Wind and his most lucrative business, Algeria's Djezzy, to Russia's Vimpelcom in a deal worth $6 billion.

He is due to reap further billions from selling most of his stake in the Egyptian mobile telecoms company he founded, Mobinil, to France Telecom and is now eyeing new growth opportunities in telecoms.

EFG has securities brokerage, investment banking, asset management, research and private equity operations and a controlling interest in Lebanese lender Credit Libanais.

Planet IB's chairman, banking industry veteran Mahmoud Abdel Latif, said the buy-out plan would see EFG expand into Africa and cut its costs while keeping staffing "intact."

"Our bid is expected to be at a customary premium to the trading price," he said.

Under Egyptian stock exchange rules, Planet IB would have to bid for all of EFG's share capital.

Egyptian share prices have tumbled since the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year, and many investors have been looking to snap up assets seen as undervalued. EFG's shares have more than halved in that time.

The bank came under further pressure on Wednesday, when its two chief executives, Hassan Heikal and Yasser al-Mallawany, were referred to trial alongside Mubarak's two sons as part of a probe into illegal share dealings. EFG said it would defend the two CEOs.

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